Archive for August, 2010

David and I now officially live in Cambridge! I love it. We live in Inman Square, which has lots of shops, restaurants, and bars. It’s also a short walk to Central Square, and we’ve walked to Harvard Square a couple of times already too. I love it. I’ll post some photos as soon as more of these boxes are unpacked…

Tomorrow we leave for Los Angeles! I’ll be there two weeks and David will be there three weeks, since he’s attending Typecon after our vacation. I’m so excited to spend time with David’s family. We’re also planning a trip to Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, and Yosemite National Park.

I’m also beginning to gear up for returning to school. I sent my principal the course description for my 11th/12th grade English elective yesterday:

Science Fiction & Dissent

In this course we will explore the genre of science fiction by looking at the relationship between literature, technology, science, andpolitics. In works of science fiction, authors frequently imagineworlds that do not yet exist in order to express political and social dissent. We will analyze how science fiction helps us to betterunderstand issues in contemporary society. We will grapplewith questions such as: How should we live and what are theconsequences of the choices we make? Should we fear laws andregulations, or are they necessary for society to function? How does technology help and harm us? How much do individual choices shape our lives? Who suffers the most in our society? How do we find a balancebetween the needs of the individual and the needs of the community?

The reading list will include numerous short stories along with novelssuch as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Time Machine by H.G.Wells, Anthem by Ayn Rand, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. We willalso explore, analyze, and write about films such as Gattaca, BladeRunner, and The Matrix.

The class will be reading and creative-writing intensive; the majorityof classes will be spent discussing the texts we are reading andcompleting writing workshops. Students will work throughout the semester on a major creative writing piece — a science fiction storythat conveys their own political dissent.

As the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, WA states, the “dreams andnightmares” in science fiction works “have something important to teach us.”